ISO 14001 poses a dilemma to the environmental regulator seeking to improve compliance, to the insurer seeking to limit liability, and to the environmental activist looking to identify ‘clean’ companies. The adoption of the ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) could lead to revolutionary gains in environmental performance if—as in the case of the diffusion of the ISO 9000 quality management system series of standards— the leading multinational manufacturers ‘green’ their operations and require the same from the many thousands of companies that make up their supply chains.1 Both Ford and General Motors have declared they will require suppliers to obtain ISO 14001 registration.